There is no doubt that cycads are an ancient lineage. Diverging from ginkgoes early on, these basal gymnosperms are iconic living fossils. Originating somewhere between the Carboniferous and Permian eras, cycads soon rose to a peak diversity roughly 199.6 to 65.5 million years ago. Indeed, what Mesozoic reconstruction wouldn't be complete without a cycad or two depicted in the background? For as long as humans have paid attention to cycads it was believed that extant diversity in cycads was a direct result of their interactions with the dominate land creatures of the time, dinosaurs.

Now numbering somewhere around 300 species, the cycads are a mere shadow of their once former glory. Outcompeted by the flowering plants, today's cycads are restricted to tropicals areas of the world. When one looks at a cycad, are they really seeing echos of a world shaped by dinosaurs? Have these plants really remained unchanged for nearly 200 million years? A recent study seems to suggest not!

Using fossil-calibrated molecular phylogenies, a team of researchers found that, far from giving up at the end of the Cretaceous, the cycads underwent yet another synchronous global re-diversification during the late Miocene period some 12 million years ago. While they are still ancient organisms, the extant species we know and love today are products of that Miocene resurgence. Thus, we are not necessarily seeing echoes of the dinosaurs but perhaps some of the early ancestors of the mammals we live with today. If anything, this certainly doesn't make the cycads any less interesting! Long live the cycads!